The Power of Words
by StarryNightfall
Summary: Several people- Ron and Hermione; two Slytherins, including a certain Potions master; Remus and Sirius are sent to a room where Harry is waiting with some important info - why does Harry look older? A 'Characters read' - HBP and DH. Slash & RonHermione.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I have already written a 'character's read' style story, but I am re-doing the whole thing as I think I added too many characters, and so I think it lacked a proper plot. This time, I have decided to limit the characters and focus of their interactions more. This is going to be HBP and then DH, although I may post DH as a seperate story, I'm not sure yet.  
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**Also, there will be slash (sort of, not sure how to explain it), but it's not Sirius/Remus, and probably contain Ron/Hermione, too.  
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><p><strong>The Power of Words<strong>

"Hey, Hermione?" Ron asked, frowning at his potions textbook, "have you done Snape's essay? I don't get why the porcupine quills prevents the salamander blood from working."

"It's right there," Hermione replied, pointing to a paragraph near the bottom of the page. "I hope Umbridge doesn't keep Harry too long, or he's never going to..."

All of a sudden, a bright light white appeared and the pair disappeared from the room, as if they apparated. Luckily, they had been sitting in a rather secluded area of the library, so no-one had noticed.

~~~~~~o~~~~~

Draco Malfoy was in his dormitory, lying on his bed. He knew he should be starting his homework, and his father would be extremely annoyed if he found out he was procrastinating, but he didn't care. His OWLS were coming up, but he knew he would be fine. His father was friends with most of the examiners, so there was no way he could fail. He heard a faint rustle and sat up immediately, but a flash of light blinded him. By the time he regained his vision, the familiar room had disappeared.

~~~~~~o~~~~~

Severus Snape was in his private quarters, sipping a cup of tea and lost in thought. Dumbledore had told him a few hours previously that he was to be the new Defence againt the Dark Arts teacher, next year - he was obviously counting on getting rid of Umbridge. Why had Dumbledore finally allowed him to take the position, after so long of denying this request? He was mulling over possible explanations when a bright light appeared all around him. Whipping out his wand, he realised his left forearm remained cool. He was not being summoned, so what was happening?

~~~~~~o~~~~~

Remus was sitting on a sofa, in Grimmauld place, thinking about Sirius, who was asleep on the sofa opposite. He knew he should probably wake him up and move him to his room, but he was too deep in thought. He wished that they had managed to take Pettigrew to Hogwarts that day, just over two years ago, so Sirius could be free. It hurt him to see Sirius cooped up in this house. All his life he had been constrained, first by his family, then Azkaban, then being stuck here. He closed his eyes, trying to remember their days at Hogwarts together. Despite his eyes being closed, he saw the room suddenly light up brighter, and he opened his eyes, only to find himself in a foreign room.

~~~~~~o~~~~~

They all appeared in a room they hadn't seen before. There was nothing but a group of seats arranged in a triangular shape, with a small table in the middle. Both the walls and the floor were plain, except for a large window on the far end. Someone was standing in front of it. With a quiet popping sound, several others entered the room. Those who had never apparated before picked themselves up from the ground, and everyone had their wands out, surveying the room in astonishment.

They all seemed to notice the cloaked figure at the far end of the room at the same time, and apparently saw him more of a threat than each other. The figure was moving forward, seemingly unaffected by the half-dozen wands trained at him.

"Who are you?" Snape demanded. "Reveal yourself."

As he moved into the light, he pulled down his hood, revealing his face. His emerald eyes shone as brightly as ever, enhanced by the change in glasses – they were the same colour, a dull silver, but were now rectangular, which made him look more mature and intelligent. However, this may be because he _was _older and mature…he looked like he was in his early twenties.

"_Harry?" _ Hermione squealed.

"_No way!" _Ron gasped at the same time. The others were looking at the man in amazement.

"What? I don't understand…" Sirius asked.

"Hi," Harry said to everyone. "I'm sure you're all wondering how, and why I'm here. I can assure you, it really is me," he glanced to Snape and Draco, the only ones to still have their wands out. "As you can probably tell, I'm a bit older than you. I'm actually 25, and I've managed to modify a spell to let me come back into the past."

"Why?" Hermione asked, just as Ron asked, "What's it like in the future? Is the war over?"

"The war is over, Ron, yes. But not without many casualties. That's why I'm here. I'm giving you information to help destroy Voldemort earlier, to try and prevent these. I don't know the exact date, but I've got info in the form of two books, the first of which begins at the start of my 6th year. I couldn't have my present self here, as it's one of the laws of time travel. But you can tell me – him – everything you will learn."

"Why am I here? And Professor Snape?" Malfoy asked, causing everyone to look at him.

"Yes, why is Snivellous here?" Sirius snarled.

"Everyone here is important in the war, although some more than others. I believe they deserve to know the future as much as everyone else does." Draco nodded at him, still unsure, but not showing it.

"Is it safe?" Remus asked, "Surely people will notice our absence?"

"Ah, I thought that would come up. I've managed to modify the flow of time, meaning that what is happening now is not affected. After we have finished, you will reappear exactly where you were before, as if no time at all had changed, even if it takes us weeks to read these books."

"How can we be sure it's true?" Snape snarled, "how can we know you're really you?"

"Hmm…you can't copy someone else's patronus, so may I see yours, Harry? It is unusual, as they are usually smaller animals."

Harry summoned thoughts of his family waiting for him at home. _"Expecto patronum!" _A large silver stag burst from his wand, circling the room twice before vanishing.

"I suppose I have no choice in the matter," Snape grumbled.

"Would you like to sit down, then? These are going to take a while."

Deciding this was a good idea, they moved towards the seating area, where two two-seater sofa's and one three seater surrounded a table, in a triangle formation, but there was space between each one so they were not cramped. Snape took a seat next to Draco, Ron, Hermione and Harry took the second one, and Sirius took the remaining seat next to Remus.

"As I said before, these books hold important information. They are also in my point of view, so it will have my thoughts and feelings. I don't really like this, but I couldn't find another way. I'm not sure when exactly the books start, but I think it's at the beginning of my 6th year."

"Oh great, I've always wanted to read two huge books all about _you,_" Draco drawled.

"I didn't exactly ask for it to focus on me," Harry replied. "I must warn you, I will not allow anyone to be unpleasant about anyone else in this room whilst we are in here. I especially will not tolerate fighting. Actually, on that note, I would like everyone to place their wands to the table." Surprisingly, after many objections (mostly from the two Slytherins), everyone had laid their wands down on the table. Maybe it was the maturity and the power that showed in his eyes.

"Okay, so we're going to take turns and read a chapter each. This book is called **Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." **He turned to the first chapter. "The first chapter is called **The Other Minister."**

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><p><strong>I know some people don't like time travel, and I think that knowing Harry will survive may ruin it a little for them, but I really wanted to try this way out. Also, I originally wrote this without Sirius, so I hope it sounds okay with him added in at the last minute. <strong>The next chapter should be up later tonight, I just need to add Sirius in :)<strong>  
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**I like to get to know my readers, so I'm going to ask questions after each chapter. Where is everyone from? I'm from England :)  
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	2. The Other Minister

**As I said before, I originially wrote this chapter without Sirius, so I hope it still sounds okay with him added in. Also, it was originally set a few weeks into the 6th book, but I think I changed all of the bits where one of them (other than Harry, of course), mentions something that had happened, but if you notice anything I forgot to change, can you tell me, pelase :)**

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><p>"Okay, so we're going to take turns and read a chapter each. This book is called <strong>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." <strong>

"_The Half-blood prince?" _Snape wondered, 'But how on earth does that relate to Potter…?'

"I still don't get why he's here..." Sirius pouted, but Harry's reaction was cut off by Hermione.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped, looking at Harry's hands, which were holding the book up. "What is that? Is that a _ring?"_

Everyone's eyes snapped to Harry's hand, even Draco and Snape, who he didn't think would be interested. He removed the ring from his finger, silently cursing to himself for not remembering to do so before. He pocketed it in his robes.

"You're _married?" _Sirius asked, extremely curious. "To who?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell you that," Harry replied. "You may find out later, I'm not sure what's in the books."

"Why not?" Ron asked, but fell silent after receiving a look from Hermione. "Ok, I suppose we better start reading, it's gonna take forever as it is."

Hermione looked at Harry, wondering who it could be. Why didn't he want to tell them? She wouldn't press it if he didn't want to tell, but she decided to try and work it out. Maybe the books will give some clues.

Harry turned to the first chapter. "The first chapter is called **The Other Minister."**

"The other minister? I hope that means Fudge finally gets replaced."

"**It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister…"**

"Oh, it means the Muggle Prime Minister," Hermione said.

"Why is the Muggle prime minister in a book about Harry?" Ron questioned.

"No idea," Harry himself replied, "I didn't know this was happening. I guess the book doesn't just focus on me, then."

"**was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind."**

Ron sighed, "Everything does that."

"Only because you rush, Ron," Hermione replied.

"I don't rush my work," Ron replied, "I just want to get it over and done with."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry and Sirius grinned at the exchange, whilst the two Slytherins looked bored.

"**He was waiting for a call from the President of a far distant country, and between wondering when the wretched man would telephone, and trying to suppress unpleasant memories of what had been a very long, tiring, and difficult week, there was not much space in his head for anything else. The more he attempted to focus on the print on the page before him, the more clearly the Prime Minister could see the gloating face of one of his political opponents.**

"This is very exciting," Draco said, smirking. "I wish _my _life was as exciting as this."

"**This particular opponent had appeared on the news that very day, not only to enumerate all the terrible things that had happened in the last week (as though anyone needed reminding) but also to explain why each and every one of them was the government's fault."**

"Oh, I think I understand," Remus said, "The war's just beginning. I'm guessing this is the Muggle's view on what is happening."

"Oh, I see," Hermione replied, "that makes sense. It must be so confusing for them." She herself wondered what her parents thought of what seemed like the deteriorating state of the country, she hoped that they didn't link it with wizards. She felt extremely guilty for not telling them about the problems of the wizarding world, but she really did not want to be pulled out of Hogwarts, which she suspected they might do if they realised the danger. This would just make it worse, she knew, as she needed to learn better defence before she could help them.

"**The Prime Minister's pulse quickened at the very thought of these accusations, for they were neither fair nor true. How on earth was his government supposed to have stopped that bridge collapsing? It was outrageous for anybody to suggest that they were not spending enough on bridges. The bridge was fewer than ten years old, and the best experts were at a loss to explain why it had snapped cleanly in two, sending a dozen cars into the watery depths of the river below. "**

"Those poor people," Harry commented, before reading again.

"**And how dare anyone suggest that it was lack of policemen that had resulted in those two very nasty and well-publicized murders?"**

"What murders were they?" Remus asked.

"I think it was Emmaline Vance and Amelia Bones," Harry replied, "but I'm not sure. It may be referring to some Muggles." There had been so many deaths during the war that he lost track of the ones he didn't know as well.

"Emmaline? She's a member of the Order," Remus frowned.

Ron glanced at Malfoy at the mention of the Order, wondering why Remus had mentioned it when he knew they were there.

"Oh, don't worry, I already know _all_ about your _precious _Order," he smirked in reply.

'Stupid Snape,' Sirius thought darkly.

"**Or that the government should have somehow foreseen the freak hurricane in the West Country that had caused so much damage to both people and property?"**

"You don't get freak hurricanes in England," Hermione said, confused. "At least, not of that scale. What was it?"

"Giants, maybe?," Remus replied grimly, turning to Harry. Giants could be savage, he wished that they had managed to recruit them on their side, or at least persuaded them to not join Voldemort. It couldn't be helped, he knew, and it was not Hagrid's fault that the situation had gone wrong.

"I think it was," Harry answered.

"**And was it his fault that one of his Junior Ministers, Herbert Chorley, had chosen this week to act so peculiarly that he was now going to be spending a lot more time with his family?"**

"**A grim mood has gripped the country," the opponent had concluded, barely concealing his own broad grin.**

"Smooth," Ron muttered. Harry suppressed a grin, Ron was not exactly smooth himself, although he had improved since then. It seemed strange to see his friends and –er- Snape and Draco younger, and alive in three of the cases. He had forgotten some of their habits, like the way Remus tapped his foot when he was thinking, and how Sirius never seemed to sit still.

**And unfortunately, this was perfectly true. The Prime Minister felt it himself; people really did seem more miserable than usual. Even the weather was dismal; all this chilly mist in the middle of July… It wasn't right, it wasn't normal…**

"Dementors."

**He turned over the second page of the memo, saw how much longer it went on, and gave it up as a bad job. **

Ron chuckled. "Best way to do it."

"Ronald!"

Harry continued before they could start arguing.

"**Stretching his arms above his head he looked around his office mournfully. It was a handsome room, with a fine marble fireplace facing the long sash windows, firmly closed against the unseasonable chill. With a slight shiver, the Prime Minister got up and moved over to the window, looking out at the thin mist that was pressing itself against the glass. It was then, as he stood with his back to the room, that he heard a soft cough behind him."**

"Not a cough," Harry joked, grinning at Ron, "how terrifying."

"**He froze, nose to nose with his own scared-looking reflection in the dark glass. He knew that cough. He had heard it before. He turned very slowly to face the empty room.**

"Dun dun dun," Ron added.

"**Hello?" he said, trying to sound braver than he felt.**

**For a brief moment he allowed himself the impossible hope that nobody would answer him. However, a voice responded at once, a crisp, decisive voice that sounded as though it were reading a prepared statement. It was coming — as the Prime Minister had known at the first cough — from the froglike little man wearing a long silver wig who was depicted in a small, dirty oil painting in the far corner of the room.**

"Wait, so the Prime Minister is in contact with the Minister of Magic?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Granger," Snape replied, surprisingly. "I would have thought you would have realised that communication between leaders is vital," he sneered. Despite being against the Dark Lord and so technically on the side of the others in the room (bar Draco, he knew of the task the Dark Lord appointed him – he wasn't happy about it, but there was nothing he could do), it did not mean he had to like them, and he wouldn't miss an opportunity to point out their flaws.

"**To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Urgent we meet. Kindly respond immediately. Sincerely, Fudge." The man in the painting looked inquiringly at the Prime Minister.**

"This must have been before Fudge was sacked, then," Remus remarked.

"**Er," said the Prime Minister, "listen… It's not a very good time for me… I'm waiting for a telephone call, you see… from the president of —"**

"**That can be rearranged," said the portrait at once. The Prime Minister's heart sank. He had been afraid of that."**

"Yeah, I think I would avoid meeting Fudge, too," Sirius joked.

"**But I really was rather hoping to speak —"**

"This guy _really _doesn't want to speak to him," Harry added.

"**We shall arrange for the President to forget to call. He will telephone tomorrow night instead," said the little man. "Kindly respond immediately to Mr Fudge."**

"**I… oh… very well," said the Prime Minister weakly. "Yes, I'll see Fudge."**

**He hurried back to his desk, straightening his tie as he went. He had barely resumed his seat, and arranged his face into what he hoped was a relaxed and unfazed expression, when bright green flames burst into life in the empty grate beneath his marble mantelpiece. He watched, trying not to betray a flicker of surprise or alarm, as a portly man appeared within the flames, spinning as fast as a top. Seconds later, he had climbed out onto a rather fine antique rug, brushing ash from the sleeves of his long pin-striped cloak, a lime-green bowler hat in his hand.**

"He really needs to change that hat," Hermione remarked.

"He's worn that hat for as long as I can remember," Remus said grimacing. It really wasn't a pleasant colour.

"**Ah… Prime Minister," said Cornelius Fudge, striding forward with his hand outstretched. "Good to see you again."**

**The Prime Minister could not honestly return this compliment,**

The three boys sniggered. Ron looked shocked at finding the same remark amusing as Malfoy did.

"**so said nothing at all. He was not remotely pleased to see Fudge, whose occasional appearances, apart from being downright alarming in themselves, generally meant that he was about to hear some very bad news. Furthermore, Fudge was looking distinctly careworn. He was thinner, balder, and greyer, and his face had a crumpled look. The Prime Minister had seen that kind of look in politicians before, and it never boded well.**

"Even the Muggle minister can tell Fudge isn't great," Sirius remarked.

"**How can I help you?" he said, shaking Fudge's hand very briefly and gesturing toward the hardest of the chairs in front of the desk.**

"**Difficult to know where to begin," muttered Fudge, pulling up the chair, sitting down, and placing his green bowler upon his knees. "What a week, what a week…"**

"**Had a bad one too, have you?" asked the Prime Minister stiffly, hoping to convey by this that he had quite enough on his plate already without any extra helpings from Fudge.**

"I doubt he'll take the hint," Harry muttered. He disliked Fudge, but Scrimgeour had been even more annoying. He briefly wondered what Fudge did now, did he still work at the Ministry?

"**Yes, of course," said Fudge, rubbing his eyes wearily and looking morosely at the Prime Minister. "I've been having the same week you have, Prime Minister. The Brockdale Bridge… the Bones and Vance murders…not to mention the ruckus in the West Country…"**

"Poor Susan," Hermione said, thinking of how nice the girl was; they sit together in Ancient Runes sometimes. Amelia bones was her aunt, she remembered.

"**You — er — your — I mean to say, some of your people were — were involved in those — those things, were they?"**

'Your people?' Harry thought, 'They sound like the Dursleys. I wonder if he's afraid to say words like 'Wizard', and 'wand,' too?'

**Fudge fixed the Prime Minister with a rather stern look. "Of course they were," he said, "Surely you've realized what's going on?"**

"How would _he _know?" Draco said, "he's just a Muggle." Ron glared at him.

"**I…" hesitated the Prime Minister.**

**It was precisely this sort of behaviour that made him dislike Fudge's visits so much. He was, after all, the Prime Minister and did not appreciate being made to feel like an ignorant schoolboy."**

"It's not his fault you're so ignorant," Draco said.

"Well, I doubt Fudge would know what he was talking about if he started talking about Muggle things, either!" Hermione snapped, annoyed at the Slytherin. "I bet Fudge doesn't know what a telephone is, or even electricity, these things are basics in the Muggle world."

"**But of course, it had been like this from his very first meeting with Fudge on his very first evening as Prime Minister. He remembered it as though it were yesterday and knew it would haunt him until his dying day.**

"Why's it such a big deal?" Sirius asked.

"Well, it would have been a shock to find out magic exists," Hermione explained. "I don't think I'll ever forget when I found out."

"**He had been standing alone in this very office, savouring the triumph that was his after so many years of dreaming and scheming, when he had heard a cough behind him, just like tonight, and turned to find that ugly little portrait **

"It's been described as ugly twice, I wonder who it is," Remus wondered aloud.

"**talking to him, announcing that the Minister of Magic was about to arrive and introduce himself.**

**Naturally, he had thought that the long campaign and the strain of the election had caused him to go mad. He had been utterly terrified to find a portrait talking to him, though this had been nothing to how he felt when a self-proclaimed wizard had bounced out of the fireplace and shaken his hand.**

"He could have at least been a little more subtle about it," Harry commented, before reading again. "Or told him gently."

"**He had remained speechless throughout Fudge's kindly explanation that there were witches and wizards still living in secret all over the world and his reassurances that he was not to bother his head about them as the Ministry of Magic took responsibility for the whole Wizarding community and prevented the non-magical population from getting wind of them. It was, said Fudge, a difficult job that encompassed everything from regulations on responsible use of broomsticks to keeping the dragon population under control (the Prime Minister remembered clutching the desk for support at this point). Fudge had then patted the shoulder of the still-dumbstruck Prime Minister in a fatherly sort of way.**

"**Not to worry," he had said, "it's odds-on you'll never see me again. I'll only bother you if there's something really serious going on our end, something that's likely to affect the Muggles **

"So all the time, then," Ron said.

— **the non-magical population, I should say. Otherwise, it's live and let live. And I must say, you're taking it a lot better than your predecessor. He tried to throw me out the window, thought I was a hoax planned by the opposition."**

The three boys chuckled again, this time joined by Sirius. Once again, Ron and Draco glared at each other.

**At this, the Prime Minister had found his voice at last.**

**"You're — you're not a hoax, then?"**

**It had been his last, desperate hope.**

"**No," said Fudge gently. "No, I'm afraid I'm not. Look."**

**And he had turned the Prime Minister's teacup into a gerbil. **

"That's like what Professor McGonagall did to show me," Hermione said, "except, she changed it into a kitten." She remembered asking to keep the kitten, but the Professor said she had to turn it back.

"**But," said the Prime Minister breathlessly, watching his teacup chewing on the corner of his next speech, "but why — why has nobody told me —?"**

Draco muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Stupid Muggles."

"**The Minister of Magic only reveals him — or herself to the Muggle Prime Minister of the day," said Fudge, poking his wand back inside his jacket. "We find it the best way to maintain secrecy."**

"**But then," bleated the Prime Minister, "why hasn't a former Prime Minister warned me —?"**

"I doubt he thought you would believe him," Remus said. Hermione nodded in agreement, she couldn't imagine telling any of her old Muggle friends that she was a witch. She had just told them that her parents decided to send her a prestigious boarding school up north, which was partially true, but she hated lying to them.

**At this, Fudge had actually laughed.**

"**My dear Prime Minister, are **_**you**_** ever going to tell anybody?"**

**Still chortling, Fudge had thrown some powder into the fireplace, stepped into the emerald flames, and vanished with a whooshing sound. The Prime Minister had stood there, quite motionless, and realised that he would never, as long as he lived, dare mention this encounter to a living soul, for whom in the wide world would believe him?**

"Many people," Remus said, "If it was a wizard you told."

"Or a relative of a Muggle-born," Hermione added.

"**The shock had taken a little while to wear off. For a time, he had tried to convince himself that Fudge had indeed been a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep **

"I wish," Harry and Sirius muttered at the same time, before catching each other's eye and grinning. Harry forgot how much he missed Sirius.

"**during his gruelling election campaign. In a vain attempt to rid himself of all reminders of this uncomfortable encounter, he had given the gerbil to his delighted niece and instructed his private secretary to take down the portrait of the ugly little man who had announced Fudge's arrival."**

"I doubt the Minister, as foolish as he is, would make it as easy as that," Snape said.

Ron shuffled in his seat, he found the presence of the two Slytherins a little unnerving. When they remained quiet, he could try to ignore them, so it annoyed him when they spoke. He didn't understand why Harry could possibly want them in here. Surely they would just run to You Know Who and tell him everything they found out?

"**To the Prime Minister's dismay, however, the portrait had proved impossible to remove. When several carpenters, a builder or two, an art historian, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer had all tried unsuccessfully to pry it from the wall, the Prime Minister had abandoned the attempt and simply resolved to hope that the thing remained motionless and silent for the rest of his term in office. Occasionally he could have sworn he saw out of the corner of his eye the occupant of the painting yawning, or else scratching his nose; even, once or twice, simply walking out of his frame and leaving nothing but a stretch of muddy-brown canvas behind."**

"It really ought to act like a normal Muggle picture," Hermione said, "What if he had guests? Surely that would breach the statute of Secrecy?"

"Excellent point, Hermione," Remus said, sounding much like he had when he was teaching.

**However, he had trained himself not to look at the picture very much, and always to tell himself firmly that his eyes were playing tricks on him when anything like this happened.**

**Then, three years ago, on a night very like tonight, the Prime Minister had been alone in his office when the portrait had once again announced the imminent arrival of Fudge, who had burst out of the fireplace, sopping wet and in a state of considerable panic. Before the Prime Minister could ask why he was dripping all over the Axminster, Fudge had started ranting about a prison**

Everyone, minus the Slytherins, tensed. Three years ago? That was when Sirius escaped…

"It's me!" Sirius exclaimed.

Harry made himself read the book. The others won't take this well…

"**the Prime Minister had never heard of, a man named-" **Harry took a calming breath** -"Serious" Black, something that sounded like "Hogwarts," and a boy called Harry Potter, none of which made the remotest sense to the Prime Minister.**

"_Me?" _Harry asked in confusion, "The Muggle Prime Minister knows about me?"

"Who doesn't?" Ron joked. Harry groaned quietly.

"… **I've just come from Azkaban," Fudge had panted, tipping a large amount of water out of the rim of his bowler hat into his pocket. "Middle of the North Sea, you know, nasty flight… the dementors are in uproar"— he shuddered — "they've never had a breakout before. Anyway, I had to come to you, Prime Minister. Black's a known Muggle killer**

The Trio and Remus glared at nothing in particular, still annoyed that Sirius had been blamed for it.

Snape also glared, but for a completely different reason. Sure, Black may not have killed those muggles, but he knew that he was capable of murder…

"Do you mind?" Sirius said, annoyed Snape was glaring at him.

"**and may be planning to re-join You-Know-Who… But of course, you don't even know who You-Know-Who is!" He had gazed hopelessly at the Prime Minister for a moment, then said, "Well, sit down, sit down, I'd better fill you in… Have a whisky…"**

"I could use one of those," Harry muttered. Sirius grinned and made for his want. "No," Harry said sternly. "No drinking."

**The Prime Minister rather resented being told to sit down in his own office, let alone offered his own whisky, but he sat nevertheless. Fudge pulled out his wand, conjured two large glasses full of amber liquid out of thin air, pushed one of them into the Prime Minister's hand, and drew up a chair.**

**Fudge had talked for more than an hour. At one point, he had refused to say a certain name aloud and wrote it instead on a piece of parchment,** **which he had thrust into the Prime Minister's whisky-free hand. When at last Fudge had stood up to leave, the Prime Minister had stood up too.**

"**So you think that…" He had squinted down at the name in his left hand. "Lord Vol —"**

"_**He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named**_**!" snarled Fudge.**

Harry rolled his eyes.

"**I'm sorry… You think that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is still alive, then?"**

"**Well, Dumbledore says he is," said Fudge, as he had fastened his pin-striped cloak under his chin, "but we've never found him. If you ask me, he's not dangerous unless he's got support, so it's Black we ought to be worrying about. You'll put out that warning, then? Excellent. Well, I hope we don't see each other again, Prime Minister! Good night."**

"Oh, I'm sure that he'll have a good night, it's not as if you just said that someone extremely dangerous escaped from a supposedly secure prison," Draco muttered. Ron almost laughed.

**But they had seen each other again. Less than a year later a harassed-looking Fudge had appeared out of thin air in the cabinet room to inform the Prime Minister that there had been a spot of bother at the Kwidditch,"**

"It's spelled with a K," Harry chuckled.

Everyone except for Hermione looked appalled. "I didn't know you were a Quidditch fan," Harry asked Remus and Sirius.

"Yes, I loved it! I think I made a good Keeper," he grinned. "Sirius played too, he was also a chaser, like your dad. Severus here played too, he was a seeker, like yourself."

Harry looked up at his ex-teacher. Snape played Quidditch? Well, it did explain his willingness to turn a blind eye when the Slytherins targeted the Gryffindor team, and he did have the build for a seeker, he guessed.

"Yes," Snape said, annoyed that Harry was staring at him, "I only played for two years, then I was replaced by Regulus Black."

Sirius flinched. His brother had always been a sore subject for him. Until they went to Hogwarts, they had been the best of friends. He had even listened to Sirius when he was ranting about their parents – he had thought Regulus agreed with him. Apparently not, he changed completely when he went to Hogwarts and started hanging around with the Slytherins. Then he had joined the Death Eaters…

**(or that was what it had sounded like) World Cup and that several Muggles had been "involved," but that the Prime Minister was not to worry, the fact that You-Know-Who's Mark had been seen again meant nothing;**

"Sure," Ron mocked, "Doesn't mean anything. Why would it?"

**Fudge was sure it was an isolated incident, and the Muggle Liaison Office was dealing with all memory modifications as they spoke.**

"**Oh, and I almost forgot," Fudge had added. "We're importing three foreign dragons and a sphinx for the Triwizard Tournament, quite routine, but the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures tells me that it's down in the rule book that we have to notify you if we're bringing highly dangerous creatures into the country."**

"**I — what — **_**dragons**_**?" spluttered the Prime Minister.**

"That must have been a shock," Hermione said, "knowing wizards exist is one thing, now he's being told creatures he thought were only myths are real, too."

"**Yes, three," said Fudge. "And a sphinx. Well, good day to you."**

**The Prime Minister had hoped beyond hope that dragons and sphinxes would be the worst of it, but no.**

"If only," Harry sighed.

**Less than two years later, Fudge had erupted out of the fire yet again, this time with the news that there had been a mass breakout from Azkaban.**

Many of the room tensed.

Harry shuddered at the thought of Bellatrix. He still had nightmares about that day at Malfoy Manor…

"**A **_**mass**_** breakout?" repeated the Prime Minister hoarsely.**

"**No need to worry, no need to worry!" shouted Fudge, already with one foot in the flames. "We'll have them rounded up in no time**

"Yeah, right. He really ought to stop covering everything up. I still can't believe he denied that Voldemort was back for a whole year," Harry said, ignoring the other's flinching at the name. "We could have had a whole extra year to prepare, and then it wouldn't have been just the Order against him. It would have made the Order's job easier, too."

"You mean, he finally admitted he was back?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, at the end of fifth year. Loads of people saw Voldemort, so there was no way Fudge could have denied it."

Remus wondered how so many people saw Voldemort, and survived – where was he?

— **just thought you ought to know!"**

**And before the Prime Minister could shout, "Now, wait just one moment!" Fudge had vanished in a shower of green sparks.**

"Of course he'll run when people start questioning him," Ron scowled. "Coward."

**Whatever the press and the opposition might say, the Prime Minister was not a foolish man. It had not escaped his notice that, despite Fudge's assurances at their first meeting, they were now seeing rather a lot of each other, nor that Fudge was becoming more flustered with each visit. Little though he liked to think about the Minister of Magic (or, as he always called Fudge in his head, the Other Minister),** **the Prime Minister could not help but fear that the next time Fudge appeared it would be with graver news still.**

Harry sighed. It wasn't even the end of fifth year yet for the others, there was so much worse to come…He wondered how the others would react to the situation after Voldemort took over the ministry. And then there were the deaths…He tried not to think about that, just yet. They would find out about Sirius soon though, surely it will be mentioned?

**The sight, therefore, of Fudge stepping out of the fire once more, looking dishevelled and fretful and sternly surprised that the Prime Minister did not know exactly why he was there, was about the worst thing that had happened in the course of this extremely gloomy week.**

"**How should I know what's going on in the — er — Wizarding community?" snapped the Prime Minister now. "I have a country to run and quite enough concerns at the moment without —"**

"You tell him," Ron muttered. Fudge was really annoying him.

"**We have the same concerns," Fudge interrupted. "The Brockdale Bridge didn't wear out. That wasn't really a hurricane. Those murders were not the work of Muggles. And Herbert Chorley's family would be safer without him. We are currently making arrangements to have him transferred to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. The move should be effected tonight."**

"**What do you… I'm afraid I… **_**What**_**?" blustered the Prime Minister.**

**Fudge took a great, deep breath and said, "Prime Minister, I am very sorry to have to tell you that he's back. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back."**

"If only you listened to Dumbledore," Hermione sighed. "You would have known that a long time ago."

"**Back? When you say 'back'… he's alive? I mean —"**

**The Prime Minister groped in his memory for the details of that horrible conversation of three years previously, when Fudge had told him about the wizard who was feared above all others, the wizard who had committed a thousand terrible crimes before his mysterious disappearance fifteen years earlier.**

Harry hurriedly continued reading, feeling several pairs of eyes move upwards to his scar.

"**Yes, alive," said Fudge. "That is — I don't know — is a man alive if he can't be killed?"**

Harry sighed inwardly. Stupid Horcruxes.

"**I don't really understand it, and Dumbledore won't explain properly — but anyway, he's certainly got a body and is walking and talking and killing, so I suppose, for the purposes of our discussion, yes, he's alive."**

**The Prime Minister did not know what to say to this, but a persistent habit of wishing to appear well-informed on any subject that came up made him cast around for any details he could remember of their previous conversations.**

"**Is Serious Black with — er — He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"**

Harry closed his eyes for a brief second, and then continued before anyone pressed the subject.

Draco rolled his eyes. He knew that both the Order and the Death Eaters knew which side that Black was on. Fudge could really be ignorant sometimes, not that he was complaining – it meant his father could influence him easily.

"**Black? Black?" said Fudge distractedly, turning his bowler rapidly in his fingers. "Sirius Black, you mean? Merlin's beard, no. Black's dead.**

"_What?" _Remus gasped. "Please tell me you read that wrong."

Harry looked up at the several shocked faces. "I'm sorry," he said, lowering his gaze, "It's true."

"Oh, Padfoot," Remus sighed, looking at his best friend. "I can't believe it. But we'll stop it, I promise. I'm not letting you die."

"How?" Sirius croaked.

"I'll tell you what happened when we have a break," Harry said, "I'm pretty sure it's not mentioned in this book, but it might be."

**Turns out we were — er — mistaken about Black. He was innocent after all. And he wasn't in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named either**

"I would never be on his side," Sirius said, "He's pure evil."

"**I mean," he added defensively, spinning the bowler hat still faster, "all the evidence pointed — we had more than fifty eyewitnesses — but anyway, as I say, he's dead. Murdered, as a matter of fact.**

"By who?" Sirius asked. Would it have been a Death Eater, or perhaps someone else, who believed him to be a Death Eater?

"Um.." Harry said, looking away. "Bellatrix."

Remus growled. "I swear, I'm going to get her."

"**On Ministry of Magic premises. There's going to be an inquiry, actually…"**

"If only he actually did that before you were chucked in Azkaban," Remus muttered darkly.

**To his great surprise, the Prime Minister felt a fleeting stab of pity for Fudge at this point.**

"I don't," Ron said, and Harry nodded towards him. He didn't think he could ever feel sorry for Fudge.

Harry felt the same way. At least Scrimgeour had redeemed himself, by not giving away Harry's whereabouts. He wondered if Fudge would have done the same.

**It was, however, eclipsed almost immediately by a glow of smugness at the thought that, deficient though he himself might be in the area of materializing out of fireplaces, there had never been a murder in any of the government departments under **_**his**_** charge… Not yet, anyway…**

"Do you think Muggles would be able to floo?" Harry asked. "I mean, you don't actually need to use magic, unlike Apparating."

"I'm not sure," Remus replied, "I don't think anyone has tried it. I think Squibs can, so perhaps."

**While the Prime Minister surreptitiously touched the wood of his desk, **

"What?" Sirius asked.

"It's a Muggle superstition," Hermione explained, "it's supposed to stop bad luck. He's saying he hopes no-one is murdered in his government."

**Fudge continued, "But Blacks by-the-by now. The point is, we're at war, Prime Minister, and steps must be taken."**

"**At war?" repeated the Prime Minister nervously. "Surely that's a little bit of an overstatement?"**

"I wish," Remus sighed. Spying among the werewolves was challenging, not to mention very dangerous.

Although he would never admit it, Snape privately agreed. Spying was such hard work, having to please both sides. Not to mention the murder and torture he had to take part in, to convince the Dark Lord that he was on his side.

"**He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has now been joined by those of his followers who broke out of Azkaban in January," said Fudge, speaking more and more rapidly and twirling his bowler so fast that it was a lime-green blur. "Since they have moved into the open, they have been wreaking havoc. The Brockdale Bridge — he did it, Prime Minister, he threatened a mass Muggle killing unless I stood aside for him and —"**

"So Fudge let him?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think there was anything he could really do," Remus replied sadly.

"**Good grief, so it's **_**your**_** fault those people were killed and I'm having to answer questions about rusted rigging and corroded expansion joints and I don't know what else!" said the Prime Minister furiously.**

"_**My**_** fault!" said Fudge, colouring up. "Are you saying you would have caved in to blackmail like that?"**

"**Maybe not," said the Prime Minister, standing up and striding about the room, "but I would have put all my efforts into catching the blackmailer before he committed any such atrocity!"**

"**Do you really think I wasn't already making every effort?" demanded Fudge heatedly.**

"A year later," Harry muttered again. That year could have helped so much.

**"Every Auror in the Ministry was — and is — trying to find him and round up his followers,** **but we happen to be talking about one of the most powerful wizards of all time, a wizard who has eluded capture for almost three decades!"**

"**So I suppose you're going to tell me he caused the hurricane in the West Country too?" said the Prime Minister, his temper rising with every pace he took. It was infuriating to discover the reason for all these terrible disasters and not to be able to tell the public, almost worse than it being the government's fault after all.**

"That must be annoying," Harry thought. He never had any Muggle friends, so he never had the problem of lying to them. He couldn't imagine having to hide being a wizard from people, and not being able to tell them.

"**That was no hurricane," said Fudge miserably.**

"**Excuse me!" barked the Prime Minister, now positively stamping up and down. "Trees uprooted, roofs ripped off, lampposts bent, horrible injuries —"**

"Giants," Hermione said softly. Not that she would ever admit it, but the idea of giants terrified her. She only recently found out that they lived in the mountains, and her family and herself often hiked in the mountains when they went on holiday.

"**It was the Death Eaters," said Fudge. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers. And… and we suspect giant involvement."**

**The Prime Minister stopped in his tracks as though he had hit an invisible wall. **

**"**_**What**_** involvement?"**

Draco smirked at his ignorance. It was pretty amusing how he didn't know anything. He was supposed to be the Prime Minister, and he didn't even know what was happening in his own country.

**Fudge grimaced. "He used giants last time, when he wanted to go for the grand effect," he said. "The Office of Misinformation has been working around the clock, we've had teams of Obliviators out trying to modify the memories of all the Muggles who saw what really happened, we've got most of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures running around Somerset, but we can't find the giant — it's been a disaster."**

"**You don't say!" said the Prime Minister furiously.**

"**I won't deny that morale is pretty low at the Ministry," said Fudge. "What with all that, and then losing Amelia Bones."**

"Poor Susan," Hermione repeated.

"Amelia was a good woman," Remus said sadly, "she was always fair."

"**Losing who?"**

"**Amelia Bones. Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named may have murdered her in person, because she was a very gifted witch and — and all the evidence was that she put up a real fight."**

"She's not one to go down without a fight," Remus added.

**Fudge cleared his throat and, with an effort, it seemed, stopped spinning his bowler hat.**

"**But that murder was in the newspapers," said the Prime Minister, momentarily diverted from his anger. "**_**Our**_** newspapers. Amelia Bones… it just said she was a middle-aged woman who lived alone. It was a — a nasty killing, wasn't it? It's had rather a lot of publicity. The police are baffled, you see."**

**Fudge sighed. "Well, of course they are," he said. "Killed in a room that was locked from the inside, wasn't she?"**

"That's horrible!" Harry said. He didn't remember that detail.

**We, on the other hand, know exactly who did it, not that that gets us any further toward catching him. And then there was Emmeline Vance, maybe you didn't hear about that one —"**

"**Oh yes I did!" said the Prime Minister. "It happened just around the corner from here, as a matter of fact. The papers had a field day with it**_**, 'breakdown of law and order in the Prime Minister's backyard — '"**_

"**And as if all that wasn't enough," said Fudge, barely listening to the Prime Minister, "we've got Dementors swarming all over the place, attacking people left, right, and centre…"**

Sirius shuddered at the mention of the creatures which once made his life hell. He still had nightmares about being back in Azkaban.

**Once upon a happier time this sentence would have been unintelligible to the Prime Minister, but he was wiser now.**

"It's good how he remembers this," Hermione pointed out, "he has to know about both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, so it's good that he can remember so much."

"**I thought Dementors guard the prisoners in Azkaban," he said cautiously.**

"**They did," said Fudge wearily. "But not anymore. They've deserted the prison and joined He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I won't pretend that wasn't a blow."**

"Dumbledore told you to remove them from Azkaban," Remus said, "This could have been prevented if you listened, for once."

"What would they have done with them?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure," Remus shrugged. "But I'm sure Dumbledore would have known."

"**But," said the Prime Minister, with a sense of dawning horror, "didn't you tell me they're the creatures that drain hope and happiness out of people?"**

"Yup."

"**That's right. And they're breeding. That's what's causing all this mist."**

"Um..." Ron said, "_How _exactly does that work?"

"Well," Harry retorted, "When a mummy dementor loves a daddy dementor…"

"That's not what I meant!" Ron interrupted, his ears going red.

Hermione looked at Harry disapprovingly, whilst Remus and Sirius chuckled. Even Draco smiled at the joke, although he quickly stopped.

**The Prime Minister sank, weak-kneed, into the nearest chair. The idea of invisible creatures swooping through the towns and countryside, spreading despair and hopelessness in his voters, made him feel quite faint.**

"He really seems to care, poor guy," Ron said.

"**Now see here, Fudge — you've got to do something! It's your responsibility as Minister of Magic!"**

"**My dear Prime Minister, you can't honestly think I'm still Minister of Magic after all this?**

The trio silently cheered to themselves.

**I was sacked three days ago! The whole Wizarding community has been screaming for my resignation for a fortnight. I've never known them so united in my whole term of office!"**

"That's what happened when you hide extremely important information from them," Remus said.

"It wasn't even hiding it, it was downright denying any problems," Sirius added.

**said Fudge, with a brave attempt at a smile.**

"Bet that failed," Ron smirked.

**The Prime Minister was momentarily lost for words. Despite his indignation at the position into which he had been placed, he still rather felt for the shrunken-looking man sitting opposite him.**

"**I'm very sorry," he said finally. "If there's anything I can do?"**

"I don't think even Dumbledore could have done anything to keep Fudge in office," Harry said, "Although I couldn't imagine that happening."

"**It's very kind of you, Prime Minister, but there is nothing. I was sent here tonight to bring you up to date on recent events and to introduce you to my successor. I rather thought he'd be here by now, but of course, he's very busy at the moment, with so much going on."**

**Fudge looked around at the portrait of the ugly little man wearing the long curly silver wig, who was digging in his ear with the point of a quill.**

"Nice," Harry joked. "Very hygienic, I'm sure."

**Catching Fudge's eye, the portrait said, "He'll be here in a moment, he's just finishing a letter to Dumbledore."**

"**I wish him luck," said Fudge, sounding bitter for the first time. "I've been writing to Dumbledore twice a day for the past fortnight, but he won't budge. If he'd just been prepared to persuade the boy,"**

Harry pulled a face.

"Try to persuade you? To do what?" Ron asked.

"They wanted me as their poster boy," Harry said, annoyed, "Basically they wanted me to say that the Ministry was doing a great job."

"That's awful!" Hermione replied.

"I know," he said, "I wouldn't have done it, even if they hadn't treated me like…treated me badly, I mean, for the past year."

**I might still be…Well, maybe Scrimgeour will have more success."**

"Nope," Harry said.

**Fudge subsided into what was clearly an aggrieved silence, but it was broken almost immediately by the portrait, which suddenly spoke in its crisp, official voice.**

"**To the Prime Minister of Muggles. Requesting a meeting. Urgent. Kindly respond immediately. Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic."**

"That's almost exactly the same thing he said when he introduced Fudge," Ron pointed out.

"**Yes, yes, fine," said the Prime Minister distractedly, and he barely flinched as the flames in the grate turned emerald green again, rose up, and revealed a second spinning wizard in their heart, disgorging him moments later onto the antique rug. Fudge got to his feet and, after a moment's hesitation, the Prime Minister did the same, watching the new arrival straighten up, dust down his long black robes, and look around.**

**The Prime Minister's first, foolish thought was that Rufus Scrimgeour looked rather like an old lion.**

"That's what I thought," Harry said.

"Me too," Ron said, grinning at him.

**There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp. There was an immediate impression of shrewdness and toughness; the Prime Minister thought he understood why the Wizarding community preferred Scrimgeour to Fudge as a leader in these dangerous times.**

"Appearances aren't everything, though," Hermione frowned. However, Scrimgeour had done more than Fudge, although she wasn't sure if this would help in the long run.

"**How do you do?" said the Prime Minister politely, holding out his hand.**

Ron scowled, thinking of Percy.

**Scrimgeour grasped it briefly, his eyes scanning the room, then pulled out a wand from under his robes.**

"**Fudge told you everything?" he asked, striding over to the door and tapping the keyhole with his wand. The Prime Minister heard the lock click.**

"**Er — yes," said the Prime Minister. "And if you don't mind, I'd rather that door remained unlocked."**

"Poor guy," Hermione said again. He must feel so helpless, knowing what was happening but unable to do anything about it. Sometimes, she thought, ignorance may be best.

"**I'd rather not be interrupted," said Scrimgeour shortly, "or watched," he added, pointing his wand at the windows, so that the curtains swept across them. **"**Right, well, I'm a busy man, so let's get down to business. First of all, we need to discuss your security."**

**The Prime Minister drew himself up to his fullest height and replied, "I am perfectly happy with the security I've already got, thank you very —"**

"**Well, we're not," Scrimgeour cut in. "It'll be a poor lookout for the Muggles if their Prime Minister gets put under the Imperius Curse. The new secretary in your outer office —"**

"**I'm not getting rid of Kingsley Shacklebolt, if that's what you're suggesting!" said the Prime Minister hotly.**

"Kingsley? I didn't know he was the Prime Ministers secretary," Sirius said. "Well, I suppose they don't need him to try and capture me, anymore. Not that he was actually doing anything, other than laying false trails," he chuckled.

"**He's highly efficient, gets through twice the work the rest of them —"**

"Magic," Harry joked.

"**That's because he's a wizard," said Scrimgeour, without a flicker of a smile. "A highly trained Auror, who has been assigned to you for your protection."**

"**Now, wait a moment!" declared the Prime Minister. "You can't just put your people into my office, I decide who works for me —"**

"He just said he liked him," Remus said, "He can't change his mind." Remus himself was good friends with Kingsley. He was kind, and treated him the same as everyone else. He didn't care that Remus was a werewolf.

"**I thought you were happy with Shacklebolt?" said Scrimgeour coldly.**

"**I am — that's to say, I was —"**

"**Then there's no problem, is there?" said Scrimgeour.**

"**I… well, as long as Shacklebolt's work continues to be… er… excellent," said the Prime Minister lamely, but Scrimgeour barely seemed to hear him.**

"**Now, about Herbert Chorley, your Junior Minister," he continued. "The one who has been entertaining the public by impersonating a duck."**

"Quack."

"Ron! It isn't funny," Hermione scolded. "If the Minister's mentioning it, it's probably something serious.

"**What about him?" asked the Prime Minister.**

"**He has clearly reacted to a poorly performed Imperius Curse," said Scrimgeour. "It's addled his brains, but he could still be dangerous."**

"**He's only quacking!" said the Prime Minister weakly. "Surely a bit of a rest… Maybe go easy on the drink…"**

"**A team of Healers from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries are examining him as we speak. So far he has attempted to strangle three of them," said Scrimgeour.**

"Oh dear," Hermione commented. "He does sound dangerous."

**"I think it best that we remove him from Muggle society for a while."**

"**I… well… He'll be all right, won't he?" said the Prime Minister anxiously. Scrimgeour merely shrugged, already moving back toward the fireplace.**

"Kind of him," Ron scoffed.

"**Well, that's really all I had to say. I will keep you posted of developments, Prime Minister — or, at least, I shall probably be too busy to come personally, in which case I shall send Fudge here. He has consented to stay on in an advisory capacity."**

"Bet he loves that."

**Fudge attempted to smile, but was unsuccessful; he merely looked as though he had a toothache. Scrimgeour was already rummaging in his pocket for the mysterious powder that turned the fire green. The Prime Minister gazed hopelessly at the pair of them for a moment, then the words he had fought to suppress all evening burst from him at last.**

"**But for heaven's sake — you're wizards! You can do magic! Surely you can sort out — well — anything!"**

"Doesn't work like that," Hermione gave a small smiled. She thought magic could do anything, too, when she first heard of it. Then she realised it wasn't like that as all, there were rules and regulations that magic was governed by, and then the rules that they had to follow when practicing it.

**Scrimgeour turned slowly on the spot and exchanged an incredulous look with Fudge, who really did manage a smile this time as he said kindly, "The trouble is, the other side can do magic too, Prime Minister."**

**And with that, the two wizards stepped one after the other into the bright green fire and vanished.**

"That's the end," Harry said. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Remus said, taking the book from Harry. "The next chapter is called **Spinner's end."**

* * *

><p><strong>Not much of Draco or Snape yet, but they will be talking more later, when there's stuff they actually would find interesting - I personally found this chapter kinda boring, as it didn't really involve any of the main characters. <strong>

**It was interesting to see most people are from America or the UK...well, I suppose the time zones affect who is online now, wouldn't they?  
><strong>

**So...question(s) for this chapter: 1. Who do you think Harry is with? (Note the A/N in the first chapter :)) Hint: it's not Ginny. I know some people won't like this, but I don't want to not add things that I want, just because I know other people wont like them, I think it ruins the idea of writing for fun :) 2. Who is your favourite person to pair with Harry? (This isn't going to affect who he's actually with though, sorry).  
><strong>

**Oh, I almost forgot, I'm going on holiday early Sunday morning, so I won't be updating for about a week. I may try to get the next one done tomorrow, but I have to pack too, so I'm not sure how much time I will have. **

**Please review :)  
><strong>


	3. Spinner's End

**A/N: Hi! Sorry it's been an extra week since I said I'd update, but my parents decided to extend our holiday for another week, so I actually only just got back, yesterday **

**A/N2: Ok, I was planning on getting this up last night, but I was watching the news about the London riots (actually now the **_**England **_**riots). As I was abroad, I missed it when it started, but I was absolutely appalled last night. I don't understand how people can be so mindlessly violent – they're destroying people's livelihoods, there's so many businesses been looted and houses on fire, it's scaring me and I don't even live in London! (I live about 30 a 30 mins drive away). I hope the police are able to better when it undoubtedly starts again for the 4****th**** night, tonight. It was nice to see the Londoners (and people of Birmingham, and Liverpool) working together this morning to try and fix up their communities, I just hope tonight doesn't mean it's all gone to waste.**

**Anyways, don't want to end up writing an essay, so on to the story!**

* * *

><p><strong>"Spinner's End," <strong>Remus read.

Snape looked up. Why was his home in the story? Did something happen to him there?

**Many miles away the chilly mist that had pressed against the Prime Minister's windows drifted over a dirty river that wound between overgrown, rubbish-strewn banks.**

Draco wrinkled his nose. Snape looked at him, wondering what he would think when he discovers it's his home town.

**An immense chimney, relic of a disused mill, reared up, shadowy and ominous. There was no sound apart from the whisper of the black water and no sign of life apart from a scrawny fox that had slunk down the bank to nose hopefully at some old fish-and-chip wrappings in the tall grass.**

**But then, with a very faint **_**pop**_**, a slim, hooded figure appeared out of thin air on the edge of the river. The fox froze, wary eyes fixed upon this strange new phenomenon. The figure seemed to take its bearings for a few moments, then set off with light, quick strides, its long cloak rustling over the grass.**

"I wonder who it could be," Hermione wondered aloud.

"Me too," Harry said, frowning, "I have no idea what's going on here."

**With a second and louder **_**pop**_**, another hooded figure materialized.**

**"****Wait!"**

**The harsh cry startled the fox, now crouching almost flat in the undergrowth. It leapt from its hiding place and up the bank. There was a flash of green light, a yelp, and the fox fell back to the ground, dead.**

"Death eaters, then," Sirius said.

"Poor fox!" Hermione said, "It wasn't doing anything." She had never had much of an interest in animals, but she really disliked it when people treated them badly.

**The second figure turned over the animal with its toe.**

**"****Just a fox," said a woman's voice dismissively from under the hood. "I thought perhaps an Auror — Cissy, wait!"**

"Narcissa," Sirius spat.

Draco looked confused. What was his mother doing in such a dump? And the other person must be Bellatrix, she's one of the only people who still call her Cissy. Well, except for a few others, such as Snape and his father, but the book said it was a woman.

"I wonder who the other person is?" Ron wondered aloud.

"Another Death Eater, I suppose," Sirius guessed.

Draco smirked, knowing he knew something the others didn't.

**But her quarry, who had paused and looked back at the flash of light, was already scrambling up the bank the fox had just fallen down.**

**"****Cissy — Narcissa — listen to me —"**

**The second woman caught the first and seized her arm, but the other wrenched it away.**

**"****Go back, Bella!"**

"Bellatrix," Sirius growled.

Harry looked down, thinking of that day, seeing Sirius fall backwards into the veil. Bellatrix was the reason Sirius was dead… returning to the past brought up a lot of memories. But there was a lot worse to come, so he knew he would just have to deal with it. This is what he is here for – to stop Sirius and all those others from dying, and to defeat Voldemort faster. They will do it, there was no way they could fail..

**"****You must listen to me!"**

"Not everyone worships you," Sirius said. He didn't like Narcissa much either, but if it came to a fight between the two, he would want Narcissa to win. Whilst Bellatrix was actively involved in the Dark arts, Narcissa's ties to Voldemort were only due to Lucius Malfoy.

**"****I've listened already. I've made my decision. Leave me alone!"**

**The woman named Narcissa gained the top of the bank, where a line of old railings separated the river from a narrow, cobbled street. The other woman, Bella, followed at once. Side by side they stood looking across the road at the rows and rows of dilapidated brick houses, their windows dull and blind in the darkness.**

**"****He lives here?" asked Bella in a voice of contempt. "**_**Here**_**? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of our kind ever to set foot —"**

"Who lives there?" Hermione said, "Do you know?" she asked Harry.

"I have an idea," he replied, but did not expand.

Snape sighed to himself. He disliked dealing with Bellatrix – her obsession with the Dark Lord meant that she tended to distrust others, and she didn't believe that Snape was on their side. It was hard to deal with her sometimes, she could be observant. He wondered how the others would react if there was an argument between himself and Bellatrix over which side he was on. He knew they would be convinced by his argument that he is on the Dark Lord's side, of course they would… he had rehearsed that story so much, that sometimes he almost believed it himself. He knew it wasn't true though – he would never respect, or agree with the Dark Lord's aims – especially after _Lily. _

**But Narcissa was not listening; she had slipped through a gap in the rusty railings and was already hurrying across the road.**

**"****Cissy, **_**wait**_**!"**

**Bella followed, her cloak streaming behind, and saw Narcissa darting through an alley between the houses into a second, almost identical street. Some of the streetlamps were broken; the two women were running between patches of light and deep darkness. The pursuer caught up with her prey -**

"Pursuer and prey? That's just Bellatrix all over," Sirius scowled. Ron and Hermione didn't say anything, they didn't really know anything about Bellatrix other than the fact she escaped from Azkaban, and she tortured Neville's parents. She didn't sound very pleasant at all.

Harry wondered what Sirius reaction would be to find out it was Bellatrix who killed him.

"**just as she turned another corner, this time succeeding in catching hold of her arm and swinging her around so that they faced each other.**

**"****Cissy, you must not do this, you can't trust him —"**

"Don't trust who?" Hermione asked again, but no-one replied, as they didn't know either – except for Snape, who wasn't going to tell them, and Harry, who wasn't sure his idea was correct. "Why can't they use names?"

**"****The Dark Lord trusts him, doesn't he?"**

**"****The Dark Lord is… I believe… mistaken," Bella panted,**

"Wow," Ron said, "Death Eaters actually have their own brains? I thought they just went along with everything You-Know-Who said."

"Of course they do, Weasel," Draco argued back, "you're hardly one to talk about brains."

Remus continued to read, ignoring them arguing. They may not have wands, but he did not want to see a big argument. They were only on the second chapter, after all. It would take forever to get through both of the books.

"**and her eyes gleamed momentarily under her hood as she looked around to check that they were indeed alone. "In any case, we were told not to speak of the plan to anyone. This is a betrayal of the Dark Lord's —"**

Draco was confused. His mother was betraying the Dark Lord's trust? Why would she possibly want to do such a thing?

**"****Let go, Bella!" snarled Narcissa, and she drew a wand from beneath her cloak, holding it threateningly in the other's face. Bella merely laughed.**

**"****Cissy, your own sister? You wouldn't —"**

"She can hardly talk," Sirius spat, "after what they did to their sister."

"They have another sister?" Hermione asked. Draco looked up, he knew that he had a third aunt but he knew nothing about her except for her name, and that she was a blood traitor.

"Yes, my dear cousin Andromeda. She's got disowned for marrying a muggle-born. She's Tonk's mother."

"Really?" Hermione asked, "You're related to Tonks? And the Malfoys?"

"Yes," Sirius replied, "All of the pureblood families are inter-related. Perhaps that is why dear Bella is so crazy," he added as an afterthought.

Hermione pulled a face. That seemed so weird to her, how they could all be related…she wondered if Ron and the other Weasley's were related to the Blacks or Malfoys? She made a mental note to look it up later.

**"****There is nothing I wouldn't do anymore!" Narcissa breathed, a note of hysteria in her voice, and as she brought down the wand like a knife, there was another flash of light. Bella let go of her sister's arm as though burned.**

"Good," Sirius said smugly. He hated Bellatrix so much.

**"**_**Narcissa**_**!"**

**But Narcissa had rushed ahead. Rubbing her hand, her pursuer followed again, keeping her distance now, as they moved deeper into the deserted labyrinth of brick houses. At last, Narcissa hurried up a street named Spinner's End, over which the towering mill chimney seemed to hover like a giant admonitory finger. Her footsteps echoed on the cobbles as she passed boarded and broken windows, until she reached the very last house, where a dim light glimmered through the curtains in a downstairs room.**

**She had knocked on the door before Bella, cursing under her breath, had caught up. Together they stood waiting, panting slightly, breathing in the smell of the dirty river that was carried to them on the night breeze. After a few seconds, they heard movement behind the door and it opened a crack. A sliver of a man could be seen looking out at them,**

Everyone was silent, waiting to see who it was. Another Death Eater, most likely. But then why would Bellatrix say Narcissa was betraying Voldemort?

**- a man with long black hair parted in curtains around a sallow face and black eyes.**

"Snape," Sirius growled, glaring at said man, as Ron pulled a face. "Should have guessed, really."

Draco wondered what his mother could be doing, seeing Snape in secret? But he was relieved at the same time, if she was only talking to Snape, then she couldn't be betraying the Dark Lord, as Snape also worked for him. He smirked, how naïve of the Order and Dumbledore to think Snape was on their side. He frowned slightly, remembering the description. Why did Snape live in such an awful, and Muggle, area?

**Narcissa threw back her hood. She was so pale that she seemed to shine in the darkness; the long blonde hair streaming down her back gave her the look of a drowned person.**

**"****Narcissa!" said the man, opening the door a little wider, so that the light fell upon her and her sister too. "What a pleasant surprise!**

**"****Severus," she said in a strained whisper. "May I speak to you? It's urgent."**

Hermione made shushing noises to Ron, who had opened his mouth to speak. She was too curious to miss anything Remus read now.

**"****But of course."**

**He stood back to allow her to pass him into the house. Her still-hooded sister followed without invitation.**

Snape frowned. Bellatrix had absolutely appalling manners, he never liked her much, not even when he had first joined the Death Eaters, all those years ago.

**"****Snape," she said curtly as she passed him.**

**"****Bellatrix," he replied, his thin mouth curling into a slightly mocking smile as he closed the door with a snap behind them.**

Sirius didn't know what to say, who would he want to come out top in an argument between Bellatrix and Snivellus? He hated both of them, it surprised him to hear they did not like each other.

**They had stepped directly into a tiny sitting room, which had the feeling of a dark, padded cell. The walls were completely covered in books, most of them bound in old black or brown leather; a threadbare sofa, an old armchair, and a rickety table stood grouped together in a pool of dim light cast by a candle-filled lamp hung from the ceiling. The place had an air of neglect, as though it was not usually inhabited.**

Draco almost frowned again. Why did Snape's house sound so awful? His must be a pureblood, didn't his parent's leave him the family home?

Snape watched Draco slightly frowning at the description. He knew that the boy must have assumed he was a pureblood, perhaps living in a manor somewhere nice, not in that neighbourhood. He had to admit, it did not sound nice – however, when he was a child the mill was still working and the area was a lot more prosperous.

**Snape gestured Narcissa to the sofa. She threw off her cloak, cast it aside, and sat down, staring at her white and trembling hands clasped in her lap. Bellatrix lowered her hood more slowly. Dark as her sister was fair, with heavily lidded eyes and a strong jaw, she did not take her gaze from Snape as she moved to stand behind Narcissa.**

**"****So, what can I do for you?" Snape asked, settling himself in the armchair opposite the two sisters.**

**"****We… we are alone, aren't we?" Narcissa asked quietly.**

**"****Yes, of course. Well, Wormtail's here, **

Sirius and Remus growled, making Draco and Ron jump. "Stupid little rat," Sirius growled. Remus forced himself to read, otherwise the memories would come flooding back…

Snape wanted to scowl, but did not let himself. He hated the rat, it was all his fault that Lily was dead. He couldn't imagine having to live with him.

"**but we're not counting vermin, are we?"**

Draco didn't really know what to think, he knew that the man was on his side, but he really despised him. He was always trying to wiggle out of everything, to him he seemed nothing but a coward.

**He pointed his wand at the wall of books behind him and with a bang, a hidden door flew open, revealing a narrow staircase upon which a small man stood frozen.**

"Good for nothing…" Sirius muttered under his breath.

**"****As you have clearly realised, Wormtail, we have guests," said Snape lazily.**

**The man crept, hunchbacked, down the last few steps and moved into the room. He had small, watery eyes, a pointed nose, and wore an unpleasant simper. His left hand was caressing his right, which looked as though it was encased in a bright silver glove.**

Harry stared at the book, unsure of how to feel. This man had as good as murdered his parents, and put Sirius in Azkaban for 12 years…but he remembered seeing the man strangle himself with his own hand and die in front on him…no-one deserved that.

**"****Narcissa!" he said, in a squeaky voice. "And Bellatrix! How charming —"**

**"****Wormtail will get us drinks, if you'd like them," said Snape. "And then he will return to his bedroom."**

**Wormtail winced as though Snape had thrown something at him.**

"Wish he had," Ron muttered.

**"****I am not your servant!" he squeaked, avoiding Snape's eye.**

Everyone felt a little confused, unsure if they preferred Snape or Wormtail.

**"****Really? I was under the impression that the Dark Lord placed you here to assist me."**

**"****To assist, yes — but not to make you drinks and — and clean your house!"**

Harry smirked to himself, thinking of the irony. The man who betrayed his parents working for the guy who tried to save them - well, his mother, at least. That must be why Snape is treating him so awfully, he realised. It felt strange to know Snape's true loyalties when he could see the others trying to work it out – except Sirius, who seemed set in his beliefs that Snape is a Death Eater.

**"****I had no idea, Wormtail, that you were craving more dangerous assignments," said Snape silkily. "This can be easily arranged: I shall speak to the Dark Lord —"**

**"****I can speak to him myself if I want to!"**

"Coward," Sirius said.

**"****Of course you can," said Snape, sneering. "But in the meantime, bring us drinks. Some of the elf-made wine will do."**

**Wormtail hesitated for a moment, looking as though he might argue, but then turned and headed through a second hidden door. They heard banging and a clinking of glasses. Within seconds he was back, bearing a dusty bottle and three glasses upon a tray. He dropped these on the rickety table and scurried from their presence, slamming the book-covered door behind him.**

**Snape poured out three glasses of blood red wine and handed two of them to the sisters. Narcissa murmured a word of thanks, whilst Bellatrix said nothing, but continued to glower at Snape. This did not seem to discompose him; on the contrary, he looked rather amused.**

"Why does he look so amused?" Hermione wondered.

**"****The Dark Lord," he said, raising his glass and draining it.**

"Death Eater scum," Sirius said, in a stage whisper. "Why is he – well, both of them – here again, Harry?"

Harry sighed, he didn't want to give too much away. "They're important in this war, too. I think they deserve to know what happens as much as we do."

He didn't want to give away Snape's part in protecting them, that would come up later, and he wanted to give Draco a chance to change his actions, earlier that he did, anyway.

**The sisters copied him. Snape refilled their glasses. **

**As Narcissa took her second drink she said in a rush, "Severus, I'm sorry to come here like this, but I had to see you. I think you are the only one who can help me —"**

**Snape held up a hand to stop her, then pointed his wand again at the concealed staircase door. There was a loud bang and a squeal, followed by the sound of Wormtail scurrying back up the stairs.**

**"****My apologies," said Snape. "He has lately taken to listening at doors, I don't know what he means by it… You were saying, Narcissa?"**

**She took a great, shuddering breath and started again.**

**"****Severus, I know I ought not to be here, I have been told to say nothing to anyone, but —"**

What could it possibly be? Draco wondered, and why hasn't his father been mentioned yet?

**"****Then you ought to hold your tongue!" snarled Bellatrix. "Particularly in present company!"**

**'"****Present company?'" repeated Snape sardonically. "And what am I to understand by that, Bellatrix?"**

**"****That I don't trust you, Snape, as you very well know!"**

Sirius, Ron and Hermione perked up at that statement, wondering what he would say. Remus wasn't sure what to think, Dumbledore said he trusted him, and that was good enough for him.

**Narcissa let out a noise that might have been a dry sob and covered her face with her hands. **

Snape was worried, he may not agree with the Dark Lord's aims but Narcissa is a good friend of his, and is only involved with the Dark Lord because of her husband. The only thing that would get her so worked up is if something happened to Draco, which concerned him, he hated others getting dragged into the war.

**Snape set his glass down upon the table and sat back again, his hands upon the arms of his chair, smiling into Bellatrix's glowering face.**

**"****Narcissa, I think we ought to hear what Bellatrix is bursting to say; it will save tedious interruptions. Well, continue, Bellatrix," said Snape. "Why is it that you do not trust me?"**

"Why would anyone," Sirius wondered aloud.

**"A hundred reasons!" she said loudly, striding out from behind the sofa to slam her glass upon the table. "Where to start! Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him when he vanished? What have you been doing all these years that you've lived in Dumbledore's pocket? Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the Philosopher's Stone? Why did you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at your mercy for five years?"**

Those are good points, Remus thought to himself.

Stupid double-crossing spy, Sirius thought. He couldn't understand how Dumbledore trusted him – but, a small voice in the back of his head said, those were some good points …why?

Hermione frowned. Harry must have invited Professor Snape here for a reason…and Dumbledore trusts him…perhaps Bellatrix was right, and Snape was on their side? But that couldn't be true…

Harry wondered how Snape would answer the questions. Bellatrix was right, but that just sounded so wrong to admit. How could she see through the lies that Voldemort didn't?

**She paused, her chest rising and falling rapidly, the colour high in her cheeks. Behind her, Narcissa sat motionless, her face still hidden in her hands.**

**Snape smiled.**

Ron cringed at the image.

**"Before I answer you — oh yes, Bellatrix, I am going to answer! You can carry my words back to the others who whisper behind my back, and carry false tales of my treachery to the Dark Lord! Before I answer you, I say, let me ask a question in turn. Do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not been able to give satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?"**

Harry couldn't help but think that was an excellent point. Snape would not be there if Voldemort wasn't happy with his explanations.

**She hesitated.**

**"****I know he believes you, but…"**

**"****You think he is mistaken? Or that I have somehow hoodwinked him? Fooled the Dark Lord, the greatest wizard, the most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever seen?"**

"Dumbledore is the greatest wizard," Sirius said loyally. He may be annoyed at the Headmaster for keeping him shut at Grimmauld place, but he was still the greatest wizard of the era – there was no way Voldemort could take that place.

**Bellatrix said nothing, but looked, for the first time, a little discomfited. Snape did not press the point. He picked up his drink again, sipped it, and continued, "You ask where I was when the Dark Lord fell. I was where he had ordered me to be, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, because he wished me to spy upon Albus Dumbledore. You know, I presume, that it was on the Dark Lord's orders that I took up the post?"**

"Is that true?" Draco asked. He had assumed Snape had taken the position due to his skills in potions.

Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. He didn't want to risk _anyone _finding out his true loyalties. It was almost like his and Dumbledore's secret.

**She nodded almost imperceptibly and then opened her mouth, but Snape forestalled her.**

**"****You ask why I did not attempt to find him when he vanished. For the same reason that Avery, Yaxley, the Carrows, Greyback,****Lucius"— he inclined his head slightly to Narcissa — "and many others did not attempt to find him. I believed him finished. I am not proud of it, I was wrong, but there it is… If he had not forgiven we who lost faith at that time, he would have very few followers left."**

**"****He'd have me!" said Bellatrix passionately. "I, who spent many years in Azkaban for him!"**

"Where you wasn't much use to him," Snape countered, "especially without the other Death Eaters to break you out."

Draco and Hermione both took note of his phrase 'the other Death Eaters', rather than 'us'.

**"****Yes, indeed, most admirable," said Snape in a bored voice. "Of course, you weren't a lot of use to him in prison, but the gesture was undoubtedly fine —"**

Snape smirked a little at his future reply.

**"****Gesture!" she shrieked; in her fury she looked slightly mad. "While I endured the dementors, you remained at Hogwarts, comfortably playing Dumbledore's pet!"**

**"****Not quite," said Snape calmly. "He wouldn't give me the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse… tempt me into my old ways."**

I wish he had took the Defence position, Ron thought, at least he would have only lasted a year…he would have been long gone.

**"****This was your sacrifice for the Dark Lord, not to teach your favourite subject?" she jeered. "Why did you stay there all that time, Snape? Still spying on Dumbledore for a master you believed dead?"**

**"****Hardly," said Snape, "although the Dark Lord is pleased that I never deserted my post: I had sixteen years of information on Dumbledore **

Sirius growled. Snape's answer to Bellatrix's questioning had him convinced that Snape is, and always has been, a Death Eater.

**to give him when he returned, a rather more useful welcome-back present than endless reminiscences of how unpleasant Azkaban is…"**

**"****But you stayed —"**

**"Yes, Bellatrix, I stayed," said Snape, betraying a hint of impatience for the first time. **

Wow, Harry thought, it never took that long with me, when I messed up in potions.

**"I had a comfortable job that I preferred to a stint in Azkaban. They were rounding up the Death Eaters, you know. Dumbledore's protection kept me out of jail; it was most convenient and I used it. I repeat: The Dark Lord does not complain that I stayed, so I do not see why you do.**

**"****I think you next wanted to know," he pressed on, a little more loudly, for Bellatrix showed every sign of interrupting, "why I stood between the Dark Lord and the Philosopher's Stone. That is easily answered. He did not know whether he could trust me. He thought, like you, that I had turned from faithful Death Eater to Dumbledore's stooge. He was in a pitiable condition, very weak, sharing the body of a mediocre wizard. He did not dare reveal himself to a former ally if that ally might turn him over to Dumbledore or the Ministry. I deeply regret that he did not trust me. He would have returned to power three years sooner. As it was, I saw only greedy and unworthy Quirrell attempting to steal the stone and, I admit, I did all I could to thwart him."**

**Bellatrix's mouth twisted as though she had taken an unpleasant dose of medicine.**

_Ha,_ Sirius thought. Wait…that made it sound as if he was on Snape's side, which he certainly was not. This conversation with Bellatrix is really sowing his true colours…

**"****But you didn't return when he came back, you didn't fly back to him at once when you felt the Dark Mark burn —"**

"Fly?" Ron questioned. Everyone shrugged.

**"****Correct. I returned two hours later. I returned on Dumbledore's orders."**

**"****On Dumbledore's —?" she began, in tones of outrage.**

**"****Think!" said Snape, impatient again. "Think! By waiting two hours, just two hours, I ensured that I could remain at Hogwarts as a spy! By allowing Dumbledore to think that I was only returning to the Dark Lord's side because I was ordered to, I have been able to pass information on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix ever since! **

Sirius growled for what seemed like the hundredth time. He just could not _stand _spies, or traitors…

**Consider, Bellatrix: The Dark Mark had been growing stronger for months. I knew he must be about to return, all the Death Eaters knew! I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do, to plan my next move, to escape like Karkaroff, didn't I?**

**"The Dark Lord's initial displeasure at my lateness vanished entirely, I assure you, when I explained that I remained faithful, although Dumbledore thought I was his man. Yes, the Dark Lord thought that I had left him forever, but he was wrong."**

**"****But what use have you been?" sneered Bellatrix. "What useful information have we had from you?"**

**"****My information has been conveyed directly to the Dark Lord," said Snape. "If he chooses not to share it with you —"**

"Burn," Ron said, then looked confused. He wasn't sure who he wanted to come out on top.

**"****He shares everything with me!" said Bellatrix, firing up at once. "He calls me his most loyal, his most faithful —"**

"Hmm," Harry said thoughtfully.

"What?" Remus looked up from the book.

"That's what Crouch Jr. said. I have a feeling he's said that to quite a few people," Harry explained.

**"****Does he?" said Snape, his voice delicately inflected to suggest his disbelief. "Does he still, after the fiasco at the Ministry?"**

_What?_ The three adults and Draco thought.

Draco was concerned for his father, had he run into some sort of trouble with the Ministry, that made him fall out the dark Lord's favour?

The Death Eaters at the Ministry? The three adults thought, _that must mean something happened with the prophecy… _They all glanced at the Harry from the future, wondering if he had heard the prophecy. Remus made a mental note to ask him, if it doesn't come up in the books.

Harry noticed the adults glance at him, and wanted to sigh. He's going to have to tell them about the prophecy, if it doesn't explain it when he told Ron and Hermione about it.

Hermione noticed the exchange between the adults. The weapon must be in the Ministry…that must be why Mr Weasley was in there when he was attacked…

**"****That was not my fault!" said Bellatrix, flushing. "The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious — if Lucius hadn't —"**

**"****Don't you dare — don't you **_**dare**_** blame my husband!" said Narcissa, in a low and deadly voice, looking up at her sister.**

"Ooh, drama," Ron, who had missed the hint about the Ministry and Death Eaters, snickered.

**"****There is no point apportioning blame," said Snape smoothly. "What is done, is done."**

Snape wanted to snort. He blamed himself for the Dark Lord finding about the prophecy, and for _her _death, so that statement seemed a bit ironic, coming from him.

**"****But not by you!" said Bellatrix furiously. "No, you were once again absent while the rest of us ran dangers, were you not, Snape?"**

**"****My orders were to remain behind," said Snape. "Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord, perhaps you think that Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with the Death Eaters to fight the Order of the Phoenix? And — forgive me — you speak of dangers… you were facing six teenagers, were you not?"**

"Six teenagers? Who was it?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I'm guessing it was you three," Sirius said.

"And Ginny, Neville, and Luna," Harry added.

"Luna? And Neville?"

"Yes," Harry said, "they really proved themselves that night."

**"****They were joined, as you very well know, by half of the Order before long!" snarled Bellatrix. **

"Oh, good," Sirius said, relieved that the kids would not be alone against the Death Eaters. "Wait, is that when … when I died?" he asked Harry.

Harry looked at him for a moment, "Yes."

"Oh…would you mind telling me how? Was it…was it painless?"

"Bellatrix," Harry snarled. "You were duelling in the Department of Mysteries. Bellatrix hit you with a curse, I'm not sure what it was but you…you feel backwards, through the veil." He looked down. He was going to sit with Sirius and have a long chat with him when they have a break, he decided.

"Through a _veil?" _Hermione and Ron asked, and Draco thought, but the adults all understood.

"They study a lot of things in the Department of Mysteries, Hermione," Remus explained, "Most of it we don't know about. But I believe that is the veil, behind which is Death. They've been studying it, but I'm not sure _what _exactly about it they are studying."

**"And, while we are on the subject of the Order, you still claim you cannot reveal the whereabouts of their headquarters, don't you?"**

"I'm not the secret keeper, so of course not," Snape sneered.

**"****I am not the Secret Keeper; I cannot speak the name of the place. You understand how the enchantment works, I think? The Dark Lord is satisfied with the information I have passed him on the Order. It led, as perhaps you have guessed, to the recent capture and murder of Emmeline Vance, and it certainly helped dispose of Sirius Black, though I give you full credit for finishing him off."**

Remus growled, but it was not a quiet growl like how Sirius had been growling to himself. It was a full, animal growl, showing the wolf within upon his face. He had already lost all of his best friends, he wasn't going to let his last best friend die. He would get Bellatrix for this, (even though it hasn't happened yet), if it's the last thing he did.

**He inclined his head and toasted her. Her expression did not soften.**

**"****You are avoiding my last question, Snape. Harry Potter. You could have killed him at any point in the past five years. You have not done it. Why?"**

"Wow, she's dense," Ron said, and Harry snickered. "Even _I _understand that Snape's not stupid enough to do that."

**"****Have you discussed this matter with the Dark Lord?" asked Snape.**

**"****He… lately, we… I am asking **_**you**_**, Snape!"**

**"****If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could not have used his blood to regenerate, making him invincible —"**

**"****You claim you foresaw his use of the boy!" she jeered.**

**"****I do not claim it; I had no idea of his plans; I have already confessed that I thought the Dark Lord dead. I am merely trying to explain why the Dark Lord is not sorry that Potter survived, at least until a year ago…"**

**"****But why did you keep him alive?"**

"I hardly _kept him alive,_" Snape said, although he knew this wasn't true at all, "I just didn't _kill _him."

**"Have you not understood me? It was only Dumbledore's protection that was keeping me out of Azkaban! Do you disagree that murdering his favourite student**

"I'm not his favourite student," Harry said modestly.

"Oh come on, Harry," Ron said, "You get away with so much stuff, anyone else would be expelled by now."

"I suppose," Harry mumbled. His thoughts on the Headmaster were jumbled, especially after the betrayal near the end of the war…he wondered how the other's would react to him having a part of Voldemort's soul.

**might have turned him against me? But there was more to it than that. I should remind you that when Potter first arrived at Hogwarts there were still many stories circulating about him, rumours that he himself was a great Dark wizard,**

"_Really?" _Harry said, completely surprised. "I mean, after the whole Chamber of Secrets thing, I know there were rumours, but when I first arrived at Hogwarts?"

Ron frowned; he didn't remember any rumours from first year.

"There were," Hermione confirmed sadly, "I remember Lavender talking about it in first year. But by the time I was friends with you, the rumours had died down, so I didn't see any reason to mention it."

"Oh."

**which was how he had survived the Dark Lord's attack. Indeed, many of the Dark Lords old followers thought Potter might be a standard around which we could all rally once more. I was curious, I admit it, and not at all inclined to murder him the moment he set foot in the castle.**

"I would _never _do such a thing," Harry said in outrage. It made him think though, about how the sorting hat said Slytherin was his path to greatness…if he had been sorted there, would the rumours have not died down? Would people actually think he was a dark wizard? The thought seemed so alien to him.

**"****Of course, it became apparent to me very quickly that he had no extraordinary talent at all.**

"That's not true!" Ron said in outrage, and Hermione nodded.

**He has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple combination of sheer luck and more talented friends.**

"You can't say that's not true," Harry said. This speech reminded him of his own speech when Ron and Hermione suggested he should start up the DA.

Snape frowned. There was no way Potter was being _modest. _

**He is mediocre to the last degree, though as obnoxious and self-satisfied as was his father before him. **

"What?" Sirius and Ron said at the same time.

"Severus," Remus said, looking up from the book. "You have to understand that Harry is not his father. He is his own person."

Snape just looked at him. Remus made a mental note to talk to him after the chapter, somewhere more private. There must be a way to get him to understand.

**I have done my utmost to have him thrown out of Hogwarts, where I believe he scarcely belongs, but kill him, or allow him to be killed in front of me? I would have been a fool to risk it with Dumbledore close at hand."**

**"****And through all this we are supposed to believe Dumbledore has never suspected you?" asked Bellatrix. "He has no idea of your true allegiance, he trusts you implicitly still?"**

**"****I have played my part well," said Snape. "And you overlook Dumbledore's greatest weakness: He has to believe the best of people. I spun him a tale of deepest remorse when I joined his staff, fresh from my Death Eater days, and he embraced me with open arms — though, as I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help. Dumbledore has been a great wizard — oh yes, he has," (for Bellatrix had made a scathing noise), "the Dark Lord acknowledges it. I am pleased to say, however, that Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions are slower than they once were. But through all these years, he has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value to the Dark Lord."**

"_What?" _Ron said, "What happened?"

Harry sighed, "Maybe I should tell you the full story. I will at the end of the chapter, I think it's almost finished?"

Remus checked how many pages were left, "yes."

**Bellatrix still looked unhappy, though she appeared unsure how best to attack Snape next. Taking advantage of her silence, Snape turned to her sister.**

**"****Now… you came to ask me for help, Narcissa?"**

**Narcissa looked up at him, her face eloquent with despair.**

**"****Yes, Severus. I — I think you are the only one who can help me, I have nowhere else to turn. Lucius is in jail and…"**

_What? _Draco gasped. His father was in Azkaban? How…? Well, they're reading into the future for a reason…if the others are going to use it to their advantage, then he could certainly use it to his, too. He would keep his father out of jailand make sure he knows everything that has happened.

**She closed her eyes and two large tears seeped from beneath her eyelids.**

**"****The Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it," Narcissa continued, her eyes still closed. "He wishes none to know of the plan. It is… very secret. But —"**

**"****If he has forbidden it, you ought not to speak," said Snape at once. "The Dark Lord's word is law."**

**Narcissa gasped as though he had doused her with cold water. Bellatrix looked satisfied for the first time since she had entered the house.**

**"****There!" she said triumphantly to her sister. "Even Snape says so: You were told not to talk, so hold your silence!"**

**But Snape had gotten to his feet and strode to the small window, peered through the curtains at the deserted street, then closed them again with a jerk. He turned around to face Narcissa, frowning.**

**"****It so happens that I know of the plan," he said in a low voice. "I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told.**

"He told _you?_" Sirius asked. Was Snape really that high up in his ranks?

Snape did not answer. He had a feeling that he did not actually know what the plan was, he was only  
>pretending to.<br>**Nevertheless, had I not been in on the secret, Narcissa, you would have been guilty of great treachery to the Dark Lord."**

**"****I thought you must know about it!" said Narcissa, breathing more freely. "He trusts you so, Severus…"**

**"****You know about the plan?" said Bellatrix, her fleeting expression of satisfaction replaced by a look of outrage. "**_**You**_** know?"**

Sirius looked annoyed at thinking along similar lines to Bellatrix.

**"****Certainly," said Snape. "But what help do you require, Narcissa? If you are imagining I can persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind, I am afraid there is no hope, none at all."**

**"****Severus," she whispered, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. "My son… my only son…"**

Draco looked up suddenly. What about him? Was he finally joining the Dark Lord's ranks? He wasn't sure what to feel about that…He sympathised with the Dark Lord's aims of course, but he wasn't sure he actually wanted to work for him - self-preservation is a Slytherin trait, after all.

**"****Draco should be proud," said Bellatrix indifferently. "The Dark Lord is granting him a great honour. And I will say this for Draco: I can see he isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect —"**

_Hmm,_ Draco thought. It seems that in the future he has made up his mind.

**Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape.**

**"****That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius's mistake, I know it!"**

Ah, Draco said. That makes a lot more sense. He was to be replacing his father in the Dark Lord's ranks.

**Snape said nothing. He looked away from the sight of her tears as though they were indecent, but he could not pretend not to hear her.**

"Emotions are no indecent," Remus said softly, before continuing to read.

**"****That's why he's chosen Draco, isn't it?" she persisted. "To punish Lucius?"**

**"****If Draco succeeds," said Snape, still looking away from her, "he will be honoured above all others."**

Everyone wondered what Draco's task could be. What task could a 16-year old do?

**"****But he won't succeed!" sobbed Narcissa. "How can he, when the Dark Lord himself —?"**

_What? _Draco thought, _I've been given a task that not even the Dark Lord can do…? He must be doing it for revenge, then._ He shuddered at the thought of being given an impossible task, and who knows what would happen if he fails…

**Bellatrix gasped; Narcissa seemed to lose her nerve.**

**"****I only meant… that nobody has yet succeeded… Severus… please… You are, you have always been, Draco's favourite teacher… You are Lucius's old friend… I beg you… You are the Dark Lord's favourite, his most trusted advisor… Will you speak to him, persuade him —?"**

**"****The Dark Lord will not be persuaded, and I am not stupid enough to attempt it," said Snape flatly.**

"Wish he would," Sirius muttered to himself, "then we'd be one Death Eater down."

**"I cannot pretend that the Dark Lord is not angry with Lucius. Lucius was supposed to be in charge. He got himself captured, along with how many others, and failed to retrieve the prophecy into the bargain. Yes, the Dark Lord is angry, Narcissa, very angry indeed."**

**"****Then I am right, he has chosen Draco in revenge!" choked Narcissa. "He does not mean him to succeed, he wants him to be killed trying!"**

Everyone wasn't sure what to feel. They didn't really like Draco, but did not want him killed by the Dark Lord, either.

Harry sighed. It must have been so hard for Draco during 6th year, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to be forced to do a horrible task with the threat of your family being killed if you failed.

**When Snape said nothing, Narcissa seemed to lose what little self-restraint she still possessed. Standing up, she staggered to Snape and seized the front of his robes. Her face close to his,**

"Ew," Sirius said, pulling a face.

**her tears falling onto his chest, she gasped, "You could do it. **_**You**_** could do it instead of Draco, Severus. You would succeed, of course you would, and he would reward you beyond all of us -"**

**Snape caught hold of her wrists and removed her clutching hands. Looking down into her tearstained face, he said slowly, "He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my useful role as spy."**

**"****In other words, it doesn't matter to him if Draco is killed!"**

"The Dark Lord doesn't care how many people die for him," Snape said. This confused Draco, why was Snape speaking against the Dark Lord?

**"****The Dark Lord is very angry," repeated Snape quietly. "He failed to hear the prophecy. You know as well as I do, Narcissa, that he does not forgive easily.**

"Prophecy?" Hermione asked. "What's this about a prophecy?"

Remus sighed, unsure whether he should tell her.

"It's what the Order have been guarding this whole time," Harry said, before Remus had decided.

"Oh."

**She crumpled, falling at his feet, sobbing and moaning on the floor.**

**"****My only son… my only son…"**

**"****You should be proud!" said Bellatrix ruthlessly. "If I had sons, I would be glad to give them up to the service of the Dark Lord!"**

"I'm glad she never had kids," Sirius said. He couldn't imagine Bellatrix looking after small children…. They would end up even worse than her!

**Narcissa gave a little scream of despair and clutched at her long blonde hair. Snape stooped, seized her by the arms, lifted her up, and steered her back onto the sofa. He then poured her more wine and forced the glass into her hand.**

"I could do with some of that," Harry muttered. He didn't realise returning to the past would be so stressful, and bring up so many memories…

**"****Narcissa, that's enough. Drink this. Listen to me."**

**She quieted a little; slopping wine down herself, she took a shaky sip.**

**"****It might be possible… for me to help Draco."**

Draco was even more confused. So, the Dark Lord had given him some seemingly impossible task, and Snape was trying to help him? Part of him wanted to be angry, if he was given the task, he would do it himself – he wouldn't let Snape steal his glory. But another part of him was scared at the idea of being given a difficult task, and would be glad to have Snape's help in completing it. He wondered what part his future self would listen to.

**She sat up, her face paper-white, her eyes huge.**

**"****Severus — oh, Severus — you would help him? Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?"**

**"****I can try."**

_Try, _Draco thought. _Maybe this means he will say he will help, but then he won't. But do I want him to help…?_ _If I manage to succeed alone, I'd be honoured above all others, Snape said…_

**She flung away her glass; it skidded across the table as she slid off the sofa into a kneeling position at Snape's feet, seized his hand in both of hers, and pressed her lips to it.**

**"****If you are there to protect him… Severus, will you swear it? Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?"**

"An unbreakable vow?" Hermione said, "That's serious."

"This just proves he's a Death Eater," Sirius said, "He is making an unbreakable vow to help a Death Eater. There's no way he'd do that if he is on our side, as Dumbledore believes."

"He might not, though," Remus said. Snape looked up, and they stopped their conversation. He _hated _it when people talked about him as if he was not there.

Harry sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time, he _did _make the vow…this will surely

**"****The Unbreakable Vow?" Snape's expression was blank, unreadable. Bellatrix, however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter.**

**"****Aren't you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he'll **_**try**_**, I'm sure… The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of action… oh, on the Dark Lord's orders, of course!"**

**Snape did not look at Bellatrix. His black eyes were fixed upon Narcissa's tear-filled blue ones as she continued to clutch his hand.**

**"****Certainly, Narcissa, I shall make the Unbreakable Vow," he said quietly. "Perhaps your sister will consent to be our Bonder."**

"I agree with Sirius," Ron said, glaring at Snape, "That is all the proof I need."

Hermione and Remus still looked conflicted, however.

**Bellatrix's mouth fell open. **

Snape smirked at the mental image.

**Snape lowered himself so that he was kneeling opposite Narcissa. Beneath Bellatrix's astonished gaze, they grasped right hands.**

**"****You will need your wand, Bellatrix," said Snape coldly.**

**She drew it, still looking astonished.**

**"****And you will need to move a little closer," he said.**

Snape mentally shuddered at the thought of Bellatrix being so close to him.

**She stepped forward so that she stood over them, and placed the tip of her wand on their linked hands.**

**Narcissa spoke.**

**"****Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfil the Dark Lord's wishes?"**

**"****I will," said Snape.**

Snape knew he would have anyway, he wouldn't let Draco do whatever it was himself. He hated not being able to actively discourage him or others from the Dark Lord, however. Occasionally a student would talk to him about joining the Dark Lord, and he knew that many of the older Slytherins from prestigious families were to be taking the mark soon, but there was nothing he could do about it but watch.

**A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire.**

**"****And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"**

**"****I will," said Snape.**

**A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing chain.**

**"****And, should it prove necessary… if it seems Draco will fail…" whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away),**

Harry picked up on this, but no-one else seemed to be paying it any thought,

Snape was frustrated, he wanted to know what the task would be..

**"will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"**

**There was a moment's silence. Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide.**

**"****I will," said Snape.**

**Bellatrix's astounded face glowed red in the blaze of a third unique flame, which shot from the wand, twisted with the others, and bound itself thickly around their clasped hands, like a fiery snake.**

"That's the end," Remus said. "Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Hermione said, and Remus handed her the book. "The next chapter is called '**Will and Won't.'"**

* * *

><p><strong>As with the last chapter, I didn't really find this chapter very interesting - it seemes really repetitive, to me, but I hope I've put in enough comments to make it sound alright :)<strong>

**For the question I asked last question, i had a lot of people guessing Harry/Luna which suprised me, I didn't realise it was a popular pairing? It does sort of make sense to me, I suppose. But that's not who he's with :) As I said before, it's going to be slash, so it can't be Luna, or Ginny, or anyone else like that. I've had a few people ask for me to change this and make it canon pairings but sorry, I'm not going to change it. There's plenty of other stories like this with Harry/Ginny, so you can always read them if you don't like mine :) Also, who Harry is with isn't really going to be a major part of the story, just occasional bits here and there, and when they find out. Oh, and I may possibly change the epilogue.. **

**Ok, question for this chapter: Do you listen to wizard rock? If so, what's your favourite band/song? I think my favourite is 'Bravest man I ever knew' by the Ministry of Magic, it's just awesome :)  
><strong>


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